INSIDE THE RING; The Timekeeper And the Gold Medalist

By JERÉ LONGMAN

Published: August 21, 2008

BEIJING -- After a week of arriving at the finish earlier than anyone else, Michael Phelps arrived fashionably late for a public appearance at the Omega Pavilion on Wednesday, grabbed a chocolate chip cookie on the sly and put his finger to his mouth, as if to hush any word that he was breaking training.

Phelps was clearly in a relaxed mood, his quest for eight gold medals having been achieved, but some find his relationship with Omega as troubling as it is cozy.

Omega is not only the official timekeeper of the Beijing Games. It is also one of Phelps's corporate sponsors, an arrangement that appears to be a conflict of interest.

The most visible athlete at these Games is getting a paycheck from the same company whose equipment decides the outcome of Phelps's events.

Most of the time, such a relationship probably would not draw much attention or concern. The Olympic timing system is a seemingly fail-safe, objective determination of the order of finish. In contrast with figure skating and gymnastics, there are no subjective votes made by judges in swimming.

But Phelps was involved in a disputed race last Saturday. Omega has declined to release underwater video images showing conclusively that Phelps won the 100-meter butterfly by a hundredth of a second over Milorad Cavic of Serbia, saying that swimming's world governing body, FINA, made the decision.

Whether it has anything to hide or not, Omega is needlessly leaving its own reputation -- and Phelps's -- vulnerable to suspicion, sports ethicists and historians said.

''Here we are in the situation in which the finish is questionable and the ultimate judge of truth is refusing to make public information that 'may' be nothing short of catastrophic for Phelps, Omega, Phelps's other sponsors and the Americans in general, who certainly do not want their wonder boy's amazing feat tarnished,'' David Malloy, a sports ethicist at the University of Regina in Saskatchewan, said in an e-mail message.

He added: ''This issue may end up being very damaging to Phelps, Omega and the U.S.A. Sadly, it could have been avoided with careful thought and basic ethical advice.''

Shortly after Saturday's disputed race, Alina Ivanescu, a spokeswoman for Omega, told The New York Times that the company would soon forward the video images to the news media. Later Saturday, though, Ivanescu sent an e-mail message saying that FINA decided not to release any timekeeping images to the news media.

''It is not up to us to decide,'' Ivanescu said Wednesday. ''It's our job to provide the results. FINA decides what can be published or not. FINA said it was a no-go.''

Omega, which has timed Olympic events since 1932, uses four digital cameras as a backup to its electronic timing system. Images from track events have routinely been released by Omega.

Christophe Berthaud, Omega's Olympic manager, said that there was no human intervention in the determining of race results and that there was ''absolutely no doubt'' that Phelps won.

''Omega provides the most accurate and reliable measurement system in the world,'' Berthaud said in an e-mail message. ''The professionalism and independence of its teams are recognized by the highest authorities of sport.''

Cornel Marculescu, executive director of FINA, could not be reached Wednesday. On Sunday, he told The Times that it was FINA's policy not to release race images. He also noted that Serbian officials had seen the images and had withdrawn their protest of the butterfly race, satisfied that Phelps had indeed won.

''We are not going to distribute footage,'' Marculescu said. ''Everything is good. What are you going to do with the footage? See what the Serbians already saw? It is clarified for us beyond any doubt.''

The International Olympic Committee said Wednesday that it would not press FINA or Omega to release the images.

''The result of the race as declared by the federation is final and the I.O.C. has no reason to question it,'' said Giselle Davies, a spokeswoman for the I.O.C.

Phelps was not made available for an interview. His agent, Peter Carlisle of Octagon, said he had no plans to ask for the release of the images. ''That sort of stuff is an issue that FINA deals with,'' he said. ''We don't get involved with what happens in the pool like that.''

Carlisle said he did not see a conflict in Phelps's arrangement with Omega. ''I don't see how the company decides the outcome of a race,'' he added.

The timing devices are operated and managed by Olympic officials at the Games, not by Omega, said Peter Roby, the athletic director at Northeastern in Boston and formerly the director of the university's Center for the Study of Sport in Society.

''Given that everyone participating in the swimming events was subject to the same timing technology, it seems to eliminate any impropriety,'' Roby said.

By standing on policy instead of openness, though, the I.O.C. and FINA seem to be trying to avoid having to defend themselves on every close decision at an Olympic event, said Kevin Wamsley, a historian at the International Center for Olympic Studies at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

''It creates a lot of controversy whether it's necessary or not,'' Wamsley said in a telephone interview. ''Those of us who like to see transparency in all decision making would like to have all the photos released. It gets rid of all doubts and the conflict of interest sitting there like the elephant in the room with the corporate sponsor.''

James Easton, an I.O.C. member from the United States, runs a sporting goods manufacturing company that has provided equipment for such Olympic sports as softball, hockey, archery and cycling. Mark Schubert, director of the United States national swim team, has a contract with Speedo, whose suits have helped swimmers set numerous world records this year. And Phelps is on the payroll of Omega, which timed his way to eight gold medals, including a disputed one.

''I think the stakes are high enough now that conflicts of interest are real,'' said Jay Coakley, a sports sociologist at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and the author of ''Sports in Society: Issues and Controversies.'' ''They ought to be regulated in some way. I would just as soon not have the sponsor of a particular athlete providing me with the split-second result. That seems to be a no-brainer.''

PHOTO: Omega is the sponsor of Michael Phelps, a narrow winner in the 100-meter butterfly. (PHOTOGRAPH BY EUROPEAN PRESSPHOTO AGENCY) (pg.D8)